CFL scouting bureau: winter edition

The Canadian Football League put out the second edition of the scouting bureau of the top 20 ranked prospects eligible for the 2018 CFL Draft.

The first edition was released in September.

WINTER SCOUTING BUREAU RANKINGS

Rank

Name

Position

School

Hometown

1 (1)

David Knevel

OL

Nebraska

Brampton, ON

2 (2)

Trey Rutherford

OL

Connecticut

Markham, ON

3 (3)

Ryan Hunter

OL

Bowling Green

North Bay, ON

4 (6)

Peter Godber

OL

Rice

Toronto, ON

5 (10)

Julien Laurent

DL

Georgia State

Toronto, ON

6 (4)

Godfrey Onyeka

DB

Laurier

Brampton, ON

7 (12)

Rashaun Simonise

REC

Calgary/Okanagan

Vancouver, BC

8 (9)

Regis Cibasu

REC

Montreal

Kinshasa, Congo

9 (5)

Darius Ciraco

OL

Calgary

Burlington, ON

10 (-)

Mark Chapman

REC

Central Michigan

Port Huron, Michigan

11 (14)

Dakoda Shepley

OL

UBC

Windsor, ON

12 (-)

Mark Korte

OL

Alberta

Spruce Grove, AB

13 (19)

Jackson Bennett

DB

Ottawa

Cumberland, ON

14 (8)

Kene Onyeka

DL

Carleton

Brampton, ON

15 (13)

Andrew Pickett

OL

Guelph

Kitchener, ON

16 (15)

Alex Taylor

RB

Western

Winnipeg, MB

17 (20)

Nelkas Kwemo

LB

Queen’s

Montreal, QC

18 (16)

Ryan Sceviour

OL

Calgary

Calgary, AB

19 (11)

Chris Amoah

RB

Laval

Montreal, QC

20 (-)

David Brown

OL

Western

London, ON

Top 5 prospects

Brampton native David Knevel remained in the #1 spot he occupied in September. The 6”9 senior at Nebraska has lots of experience as a starter at right tackle. He’s appeared in 31 games for the Cornhuskers, including eight in 2017.In 2016 he was named an Academic All-Big Ten.

Trey Rutherford also retains his spot, holding down the position of second. The Connecticut Husky started in all 12 games in 2017 on the offensive line, and has experience as a fullback during the 2015 season. The Markham, ON native helped UConn’s offence rush for 200 yards in seven separate games.

Bowling Green Falcons right tackle Ryan Hunter comes in third overall after starting all 12 games in 2016. Hunter, from North Bay, ON, helped the program get three of their players to 100+ yards in their last two games of 2016 for the first time in Bowling Green’s history.

Offensive lineman Peter Godber rose from sixth place to fourth after his senior year at Rice University. Godber has played 36 games in three years for the Owls, starting his most recent 23. The 6”3 Toronto, ON native has been a member of the C-USA Commissioner’s Honour Roll every year since 2014.

Georgia State’s Julien Laurent rose a striking five spots from tenth overall to round out the top five. The Dean’s List player from Toronto started nine games at nose guard, missing three due to injury. He collected a sack and 28 tackles in 2017, including a career-high eight in one game.

By the numbers

The rankings include ten offensive linemen, three receivers, two defensive linemen, two running backs, two defensive backs and one linebacker.

A total of 18 schools are represented on the list, with only two schools (Calgary and Western) having multiple players on the list.

Last year’s winter rankings saw 19 of 20 prospects selected in the CFL Draft, with five being selected in the first round.

The CFL Scouting Bureau releases its rankings three times each year: in September, December and April. The CFL’s Scouting Bureau is comprised of CFL scouts, player personnel directors and general managers from the league’s nine teams.